Seoul Residential

Asian Cities

1H 2017

DemographicsKorea’s population, is 51 million, with 50% living in the Seoul metropolitan area (Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi province ). Due to Korea’s low birth rate, low marriage rate and aging society, the average household size was 2.5 in 2016, shrinking from the 3.7 average in 1990. The proportion of households of only one or two people is 53%, and 40% for households of three or four. As the demographic characteristics have changed, perception and requirements for housing have changed accordingly.

Housing types in KoreaTypes of housing are categorised as high-rise apartments, residential multiplex apartments, single houses, and low-rise town houses; 60% of households dwell in high-rise apartments. As the average size of the household has shrunk, the preference for smaller-unit apartments has increased, which is reflected in price and sales volume increases for this sector; approximately 83% of transacted houses in 2016 were less than 85 sq m units. The demand for smaller apartments is high, due to the low lump sum purchase price, lower maintenance costs (including property tax during the holding period), and ease of sale.